Codfish on the menu for end of the month

If you've been hearing rumors of good cod fishing already under way this winter, believe them. Codfish have been mixing in with blackfish and research set-aside sea bass catches on the offshore grounds now for several weeks. In recent days, the cod have even dominated some of the scores.

"We've had some really good cod action on our 30- to 40-mile wreck trips over the past two weeks," said Mike Wasserman, skipper of the Freeport open boat Captain Lou VII (516-623-5823). "We've been pulling 150 to 200 keepers each time out with a pool fish weighing about 20 pounds. Big porgies, sea bass and jumbo blues have added a lot of spice to the catches."

Wasserman likes what he sees so far in terms of the early cod tallies, and plans to run even farther offshore to probe some wrecks that are 40 to 60 miles out, starting in the first week of December. He noted that inshore blackfishing remains "phenomenal," with the boat sailing down the New Jersey shore for limit catches of bulldogs to 8 pounds on just about every trip."

While blackfish are often a sure bet this time of year, stripers can be a little more elusive. For the past two seasons, however, Thanksgiving weekend has seen the bass slam diamond jigs off the South Shore. Captain Neil Delanoy of the Laura Lee said that stripers continue to be the prime target for open boats sailing out of Captree, but the jigging action hasn't really started yet so most vessels are still clam-chumming with good success in Fire Island Inlet and around the Robert Moses Bridge.

Encouraging, however, was the jigging action that some vessels found in 45 feet of water outside Fire Island Inlet on Tuesday. For the first time in weeks, flocks of birds could be seen diving on sand eels, herring and anchovies and anglers had a ball battling big blues and a notable scattering of stripers. Wednesday found the seas too rough and foggy for the fleet to get outside. Hopefully, the bass and choppers still will be around and in an aggressive feeding mood when the fleet resumes searching again during the next few days. Archer bags big buckBrian Bishop had a little extra to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. The 53-year-old Con Edison employee from Port Jefferson Station is still thrilled by the huge Suffolk County buck he arrowed a few weeks ago.

"I was hunting a 20-acre mix of oaks and scrub pine when a fawn, a doe and the big buck stepped out of the brush," Bishop said. "The buck was upwind and started feeding on acorns but the doe picked up my scent and began stomping her foot as a warning."

Fortunately for Bishop, the buck never stopped eating until it was too late. The big-racked brute scored an impressive 157 Pope and Young points.

"I was surprised how calm I felt with that buck in front of me," Bishop said. "It took 11 minutes for it to present the perfect angle. I do a lot of 3-D shooting at Thrill of The Hunt in Riverhead, and I really think that helped me stay in control. All the practice -- and the 3-D archery league shooting -- really helped to build up my confidence."

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